Committee Decisions

CONF 004 IX

SOC: Galapagos (Ecuador)

Galapagos (Ecuador)

The Committee noted that this site was facing two separate threats: on the one hand, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese fishermen last year captured some 40,000 sharks in the waters adjacent to the site; this intensive fishing was halted following protests by international organizations, but the effectiveness of the ban was uncertain; on-the other hand, tourist pressure on the park has increased considerably to a level far beyond the park's estimated visitor capacity.

The Committee was pleased to note that remedial measures to counter these threats were being considered; the Ecuadorian authorities had indicated, in fact, that the waters surrounding the National Park would be nominated to the World Heritage List in 1991, thereby reinforcing the protection of the adjacent waters. Moreover, a study of the effects of tourism and the means to combat these effects was being conducted with World Heritage Fund support, and the results of this study should be made known in the first half of 1991. The Committee asked the Secretariat and IUCN to continue monitoring the state of conservation of this property.